The First Stronghold Ebonreach

Derek's expression soured at the scolding, but nothing about his posture suggested he thought he'd done anything wrong. He gave a short, dismissive snort.

"So what if it goes to auction? Name one force on this server with deeper pockets than the official team."

"It ends up in our hands either way. What's the actual difference?"

"The difference," Marcus Webb said, grim, "is how much gold it costs us to get there instead."

"Every coin the government spends in this game came from somewhere officers, support staff, people putting in real hours.

That's not a resource you get to burn carelessly just to save yourself an uncomfortable conversation."

"And that's not even the real problem. Over eighty percent of the top-tier equipment on this entire server has moved through Unrivaled's hands alone.

If this relationship sours, we lose that pipeline completely along with every plan built around using it to field real combat strength."